


Purgatory

by Bexcellentaloy



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/F, M/M, This deals heavily with the idea of being dead, afterlife stuff, tw death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2019-11-28 11:24:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18207656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bexcellentaloy/pseuds/Bexcellentaloy
Summary: Charlotte Flair wakes up in a totally weird land and there isn't a soul in sight. Where is she, and how is she supposed to get home to her wife, Becky?





	1. The Field

**Author's Note:**

> song of the chapter:  
> Waking Up by 10 Years
> 
>  
> 
> _Are you there can you hear me_  
>  _Are you there can you feel me_  
>  _Waking up good morning to you my dear_  
>  _I'm waking up enduring my biggest fears love_

Charlotte awoke with a start. Something had hit her square on the head. Grunting and disoriented, she opened her eyes to find she was… somewhere. She blinked and picked up the offending object from where it had landed in her lap; it looked like an acorn. Or it almost did. It wasn’t smooth like it ought to be, more like an underdeveloped pinecone that had somehow formed itself into a near-perfect circle. She cocked an eyebrow, confused. _That’s… odd._ Surveying her surroundings, she realized she was sat against a giant oak tree. The air was warm and the sky clear, the sun blazing down on a field of tall grass that looked like it was in its last stages of life. The roots still clung stubbornly to their fading green color, but they seemed to be fighting a losing battle. It was as if the sun was too hot, baking the landscape from the top down.

She swiped the back of her hand across her brow to find she was dripping with sweat. _Must have been sitting in the sun for too long,_ she mused to herself, though there was nothing but shade under the tree. It was hazy out, like the thick, heavy air of a humid summer day. It felt almost suffocating, and it made her eyes burn. She felt like she was in a smoky bar and just needed a quick breath of fresh air to clear her system.

Slowly she pushed herself to her feet, though her entire body was sore. _Definitely from sitting here too long. Probably. Wherever here is._ She looked up into the branches above her. The trunk of the tree was almost jet black; unnaturally so, like it was covered in spray paint. Or burnt, maybe. But so high into the massive branches? She needed to make sure to ask Becky about it. Becky was always a well of knowledge about random things.

Becky.

A sudden wave of panic came crashing down around Charlotte; where the hell was she? In the middle of a dead, hazy, abandoned field and sweating like she’d just got done knocking down a fire. This place looked like nowhere she’d ever been before, yet it felt… familiar somehow. _What the fuck is going on?_

“Becks?”

There was no stirring in the air. No sound, no movement, not even a trace of wind. Nothing. Charlotte didn’t know why she felt compelled to call out for Becky when there was clearly no one nearby. And that was just as confusing as everything else. Where was everyone? She had to have gotten here somehow, with someone’s help. She obviously didn’t do it of her own accord. Probably. At least not that she remembered. And how long had she been here anyway? Had she just sleepwalked into some random field? Had she and Becky had too much to drink again? But then why wasn’t Becky with her?

This didn’t even look like any place Charlotte had ever seen. She glanced down at her clothes and frowned. Blue work pants and a plain t-shirt. She never wore any of that at home, not unless she was leaving for the day. None of this made sense.

“No idea where you are, no clue how you got here, no people for who knows how far… great job, idiot. Whatever you did, you did a hell of a job doing it to end up here.”

She ruffled her fingers through her sweaty blonde mane and decided to make her way toward what she hoped was a distant road she could just barely make out beyond the grass. Surely there had to be someone nearby who knew… something.

The dead grass petered out into gravel and dirt at the field’s edge, yet the asphalt beyond looked almost freshly paved. That meant someone had to have been through recently, right? The hazy air was making it difficult to see anything clearly beyond her immediate surroundings. So, she started walking. And kept walking. And walking. And walking. As the minutes grew to what felt like hours and the grass lining the road slowly gave way to scrub and brush and finally to dense woodland, Charlotte began to wonder if she had somehow entered the Twilight Zone and that at any minute that creepy, familiar music was going to finally allow her a cutaway back to her life.

She wondered where Becky was. She felt so close by somehow; Charlotte could almost smell her skin. It made sense, she supposed. She was lost and lonely in a strange place that seemed to be getting stranger by the moment. Of course she wanted to believe Becky was close. It was… grounding.

It almost felt like a dream, the strangeness of it all. Yet her dreams were rarely so vivid that she could hear the sound of her own footfalls as she walked, or feel the heat rising off the pavement beneath her feet. _Or the acorn falling on my head._

Something about the acorn-that-was-not-an-acorn continued to bother her. It was heavy and round like a marble, no bigger than a standard acorn, but the texture was all wrong. _Just like everything else here,_ she thought. _All wrong._

She had no idea how long she’d been walking; she’d stopped wearing a watch when she became a full-time firefighter. The only one she owned was a present from her father and there was far too much risk of it getting broken on the job. It stayed safely tucked away on her dresser at home.

_Home._ A modest, single bedroom apartment. A space Charlotte shared with her wife. She smiled softly at the thought. It was nice to think of the woman she loved being (presumably) safe somewhere as she trudged further and further along the empty road. She tried to remember the last time she had seen her. Becky had been sprawled out in bed, one leg and an arm thrown dramatically over Charlotte as she slept. Charlotte remembered her alarm going off and Becky groaning before wrapping herself into a ball on the other side of the bed with only a sliver of blanket draped across her hip.

_“Good morning, beautiful.”_

_“Hrmph.”_

_She got out of the shower a few minutes later to find her wife star-fished across their queen bed, still sound asleep. She lay perfectly still as Charlotte shrugged on her uniform. Just before she left, Charlotte leaned down, stopping just inches above Becky’s lips._

_“I’m going to work.”_

_“Brf.”_

_“I love you.”_

_“Mmmmrf.”_

_Charlotte gently grazed Becky’s lips but, as always, felt a tug on her uniform for a longer kiss. And as always, she was happy to oblige._

_“Love you too.”_

Charlotte squinted into the horizon; for some reason she couldn’t remember anything after that. She must have gone to work, but… what happened? What this some elaborate joke by the boys? Were they trying to get her back for that envelope incident last November? She’d apologized a dozen times, and Brooks’ eyebrows even looked mostly normal again. Though his car never did quite get rid of that ridiculous honk when he used his brakes. Charlotte shrugged and smiled to herself, but it only lasted a moment. This didn’t feel like one of their pranks. They were always very careful not to go too far; dumping her off in a random field god-knows-where seemed like a pretty big line to cross. Unless she was on one of those stupid prank shows and was about to be scared shitless.

Truth be told, she was already scared. Really scared. She’d been walking for hours now, though the sun didn’t seem to have moved very far, if at all. Maybe someone had slipped her some hallucinogens and she was just having the world’s weirdest trip. She huffed a sighed and shook her head.

_Wild theories aren’t getting me anywhere._

There seemed to be no civilization anywhere nearby. No buildings, no cars, no people… no nothing. She’d barely even seen any birds or other wildlife to speak of.

“Where in the FUCK am I?”

Finally, mercifully, she saw what looked like a clearing up ahead. The dense woods gave way to a neighborhood of some sort. Charlotte sprinted along the last empty stretch of road, desperate for confirmation that she wasn’t crazy or dreaming. All she wanted was to see another living being. She slowed to a cautious stop when she reached the first house.

It – along with the rest of the crowded little block of cookie-cutter homes – felt overwhelmingly deserted.

“There’s… there has to be someone here.”

She ran up to the first house and peered through the window. There was nothing. No dishes in the sink, no shoes on the floor, not even a bag in the garbage can. The house was completely furnished and looked brand new, yet… no one was there. The next three houses she checked were the same. By the fifth house, she no longer needed to see inside. She tried the door out of pure desperation; for water, for food, for any sort of comfort at all. It opened, and she was immediately overwhelmed by the familiar new construction smell of lumber mixed with cleaning chemicals. Shuffling into the living room, she collapsed face first on the couch and finally let herself cry.

She just wanted to go home.


	2. Let's Limbo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two new friends stumble upon a distraught Charlotte and offer to help her get back to her wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the Chapter:  
> For Me This is Heaven by Jimmy Eat World
> 
> _When the time we have now ends,_   
>  _When the big hand goes round again,_   
>  _Can you still feel the butterflies?_   
>  _Can you still hear the last goodnight?_

Charlotte awoke with a jolt, face smushed into the cushions of a couch that was definitely not her own. She was startled at first by the unfamiliar environment, but her initial confusion quickly turned to a demoralizing weight on her chest as she realized she was no closer to home. Her eyes burned from crying herself to sleep. She used her palms to wipe at them tiredly and looked around, really taking in her surroundings for the first time. The house was ranch-style, with the living room immediately inside the front door. The kitchen overlooked the road she’d come in on. All the appliances looked as new as the house itself, as though they’d never even been touched before. All the walls were the same shade of off-white, giving it the uncomfortable aura of a place that no one had ever cared about enough to liven up.

She walked gingerly into the kitchen. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was going to disturb someone if she was too loud. She ran her fingers over the marble countertop and grimaced; there wasn’t even any dust. Maybe it had just gotten built? But why a whole neighborhood of empty houses? And why were they all fully furnished if no one lived in them? She found herself thinking, not for the first time, that none of this made any sense.

Out of curiosity, she turned the faucet on.

“No water. Of course.”

The odd thing was that she didn’t feel particularly hungry or thirsty, despite walking in the haze and the sun for as long as she had. _Must have been the nap,_ she decided, though that didn’t make any more sense than anything else if she was honest. She dropped back down on the couch with a sigh and held her face in her hands.

“Okay, Charlotte. Let’s figure this out. You woke up in a field, god knows where, under god knows what kind of tree, after sleeping there for god knows how long. You walked god knows how many miles to some godforsaken neighborhood that hasn’t seen any people since god knows when. And NOW you’re talking to yourself like a goddamn crazy person. God, this fucking sucks.”

“Sounds like that god guy is a son of a bitch.”

Charlotte yelped and leapt clear over the side of the couch, landing flat on her butt. She peered slowly over the edge. _Please be a real person, please be a real person, please be a real person._ She tried to keep her I’m-hearing-voices panic attack at bay long enough to look up. Mercifully, there did appear to be another human being in the room with her. Two human beings, in fact. She was tempted to jump up and hug them just to be sure they were real, but then the thought occurred to her that she may _actually_ have broken into someone’s home. Charlotte swallowed hard.

“I… do you live here?” she asked.

“I mean, kinda,” answered the same woman who had spoken before. She had bright purple hair pulled into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck and a playful grin on her face that put Charlotte at ease, though she wasn’t sure why. There was a second, taller woman hovering just behind her in the doorway. Dark brown hair framed her face and there was compassion behind her eyes, though she kept her expression neutral. Charlotte felt oddly comforted just looking at her, as though she could just collapse into her for the hug she so desperately wanted. She felt safe, like they would help her. But she needed to be sure.

“Kinda? Like, kinda I’m breaking into your house or kinda we’re both breaking in at the same time and… uh… burgling together?”

“Kinda as in the rules here are a lot more complicated than they are on the Mortal Plane. Also, ‘burgling’ is a truly wonderful word.”

Charlotte stared at her. “I’m sorry, what?”

“It’s a good word.”

“No, I mean, the first part. The ‘mortal plane’ part.”

“I mean _the Mortal Plane._ Where you come from. Different rules here, Char-Char.”

“ _Sasha,_ ” the other woman hissed under her breath. The purple-haired one – Sasha, apparently – shrugged and sat down on the couch, kicking her feet up onto the coffee table.

“What? She’s gonna find out eventually.”

The other woman shot her a look. “She looks _scared_ , Sasha. Can we please take this one step at a time? She’s probably confused as all hell.”

Sasha rolled her eyes dramatically. “Yes, Mama Bayley, we wouldn’t want to frighten the de-“

“ANYWAY,” Bayley said sharply, making Charlotte jump. “I’m so sorry for my girlfriend here. She’s always talking. Women, right? I’m just kidding, I don’t actually believe that. I love when women talk. All women. Always. Sasha’s just a little blunt is all when maybe she shouldn’t be. She’s really nice, honest.”

“Hey, one of us has to be honest with these poor saps.”

“Honesty is not the same as dropping truth bombs on them out of nowhere, dude! They’re scared and fragile. Be nice.”

Charlotte’s eyes lit up as her brain finally latched onto something familiar (and less existentially terrifying) as the two continued to squabble in hushed voices. “Did you say… girlfriend?”

The two went quiet for a long moment. Finally, Bayley shrugged. “Oh. Yeah. Sasha is totally my life partner. Even though she’s kind of a butthead.”

“And Bayley – _oof_ – is my big dumb nerd who I love with all my heart.”

Bayley had plopped herself across Sasha’s lap, wrapping her arms around the shorter woman’s neck with a grin. Charlotte smiled for what felt like the first time in days, though admittedly her concept of time was a bit jaded. _Well, this can’t be all bad. At least I’m here with women like me. At least I’m safe. I think._

“I… I’m really happy you guys found me,” she said, looking at them hopefully. “See, I have no idea where I am and I just… I really want to go home to my wife and my cat and my dog. Can you help me?”

Sasha and Bayley exchanged a heavy glance.

“Tell us about your wife,” Bayley said a little too quickly.

Charlotte’s smile widened. If there was any subject she never tired of talking about, it was her family.

“God, where do I start? We were in a social science class together in college. I still remember the first time I saw her. I was sitting there, bored and anxious on the first day of class, and she walked in as calm and uncaring as could be. I’m not sure if she meant to or not, but I swear she did a little hair flip that made my heart stop on a dime. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I realized a few days later that she was in another one of my classes. What dumb luck, right? So I came up with this master plan. One day in our first class, I just happened to casually sit next to her, right? And I was like, ‘hey, I think we have another class together and I have an appointment during class today, do you think I could borrow your notes at some point?’ And she just smiled and nodded! Can you believe that worked? I’m pretty proud of how smooth I was, to be honest. I didn’t even stutter once!”

“I mean, you could have just talked to her,” Sasha interjected before Bayley could smack her.

“Yeah but making up an appointment and an excuse was way easier.”

Bayley looked an odd mixture of impressed and vaguely scandalized. “Wait, you didn’t _actually_ have an appointment? You just skipped class early to talk to a girl?”

“Well, it sounds stupid when you say it like that.”

All three girls laughed. Charlotte felt a weight lift off her shoulders.

“So obviously it worked out,” said Sasha. “How old were you?”

“When, in college?”

“No, when-“

“When you got married,” Bayley finished. Sasha glared at her for interrupting but kept quiet as she continued. “You said she was your wife, right? Becky?”

Charlotte smiled even brighter. “We dated for ten years. We’ve only been married for four. We wanted to really make sure it was for the best. I mean, we broke up like, twice in those ten years but never for more than a month or so. We knew we were young, so we were trying to be open, you know? But here we are. She’s the love of my life. And I like to believe I’m hers.”

Again, the other two women exchanged a glance. Bayley looked almost distraught. Charlotte couldn’t quite figure out what the quiet tension in the room was, but it was starting to get to her. She could feel her panic bubbling to the surface. Then something occurred to her.

“I never said her name.”

Sasha muttered something that sounded distinctly like _“shit”_ under her breath. Bayley just blinked at her. “What?”

“You knew her name was Becky. But I never said it. How did you know?”

Neither of them said anything. They just stared at her with the same pained expression. Panic and anger started to swell in her chest. Did they find her because they were behind all of this? Did they know who was? And why were they just _staring_ at her like that?

“Did something happen to Becky?” She could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She could barely breathe. “Where is she? Where’s my wife?!”

Bayley was the first to her feet. She placed her hands firmly on Charlotte’s shoulders. Charlotte felt calmer almost immediately, though her breathing was still short and more than a little panicked.

“Charlotte, look at me.”

Charlotte steadied her breath and looked up into Bayley’s eyes. They were still full of compassion, though now it seemed tinged with something like regret. But why? What did she know?

“Charlotte, do you know where you are? Or how you got here?”

She shook her head. “No. I told you, you’re the first two people I’ve seen since I woke up.”

“Where did you wake up?”

“Under some tree in a field a few miles down the road.”

Bayley whipped around to look pointedly at Sasha. “The Field. Maybe there’s hope.”

Sasha’s face was solemn. “Possibly. But you don’t mean…?”

“I know it’s a long shot, but I feel like we need to help.”

“And if we get caught?”

“Oh, please,” Bayley scoffed. “Since when are _you_ worried about getting into trouble?”

“That’s…” Sasha began, then trailed off with a huff. “Okay, fair, but you know it’s all rumor anyway. There may be nothing we can do.”

Bayley squared her shoulders. “Yeah, well, I know that I trust Seth to do what’s best for everyone. He’s smart. He can do it. I believe in him. And I think you do too.”

Sasha sighed deeply. “Fine. But we gotta move fast. It’s not like the Field is a long-term guarantee. Let’s go.”

Sasha stood and headed for the door. Bayley pulled Charlotte to her feet and tugged on her wrist for her to follow, but Charlotte dug her heels into the floor and shook her head.

“Wait, wait, WAIT. No way. I’m not going anywhere with anyone until you tell me what the fuck you’re on about. You don’t get to have a coded conversation like I’m not even here and then expect me to just go with you. Explain. What hope? What rumor? Who’s Seth? Where’s Becky and how did you know her name? I want answers and I’m not leaving this room until I get them. And now I KNOW you have them.”

Bayley drew a deep breath. “People come here for a lot of reasons. Most don’t know why. Some know how they got here but something, or someone, is keeping them from leaving. It’s hard to say. But if we go find our friend Seth, maybe he can help. The Field is a rare place, not like the Layover. It has the potential to be… less permanent, let’s say. In your case, it’s a really good sign. A sign that maybe we can get you back to your wife.”

“What the fuck are you trying to say?” Charlotte barked.

Sasha approached her slowly, like she was a spooked animal about to bolt. She took Charlotte’s free hand in her own. Her skin was cold. Too cold.

“Charlotte. This is purgatory. You’re dead.”


	3. Realities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick check in with Becky and a little more about this Seth guy and what he's up to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the Chapter:  
> Goner by Twenty One Pilots
> 
> _The ghost of you_   
>  _Is close to me_   
>  _I'm inside out_   
>  _You're underneath_   
>  _Don't let me be gone_

_It was a call that Becky always feared would come. Though she, of course, always pretended it would never actually happen. It came with the territory, of course. First responders, police, firefighters. There was always a degree of danger to doing what they did. But she never thought it could be Charlotte. She’d been a firefighter for years and nothing had ever happened before. Why now?_

_She was afraid to touch her, with the burns that coated her body. The doctors said there could potentially be some head trauma from the beam falling. Her lungs were operating at a fraction of their normal capacity due to the smoke inhalation. Becky didn’t care, she would do whatever Charlotte needed her to. She just needed her to pull through. She just needed more time._

_“Please, whoever is listening, please… I don’t want to do this without her. I can’t do this without her. Please.”_

_Becky gently pulled the tips of Charlotte’s fingers into her cheek. Then she sobbed. She wasn’t even sure how long Charlotte had been in a coma for; all she knew is that every day that passed made the outlook more bleak, and the second Charlotte’s parents overruled her, the nurses would pull the plug. They were beginning to fear for the worst, and it was up to Becky to keep fighting._

_If only she could convince them Charlotte was going to be okay. Becky could feel the clock; it sped up, mocking her. Time was running out._

*********

“I’m sorry I’m WHAT NOW?”

Charlotte’s breath was growing more and more jagged. _Dead? DEAD? That can’t be. That’s impossible._ She was right here, sitting on the couch. She could feel her skin, feel her anxiety spike, feel hot tears burning at her eyes.

“I know that is a lot to take in but-”

“You just told me I’M NOT ALIVE YES THAT IS A LOT TO TAKE IN.”

Sasha and Bayley each had one of Charlotte’s hands cupped between their own.

“We’re dead too. We’ve been hanging out here for… I don’t even know how long.”

Sasha nodded. “We’ve seen a lot of people come and go.”

“Why are you still here, then?” Surely no one would just stay here.

Bayley shrugged. “Neither of us ever felt the need to leave. We have each other. We get to meet all kinds of new people and sometimes we get to help them too. That’s why Sasha said this is ‘kind of’ our home. We don’t really have a home. We just head in one direction until we feel the need to stop.”

“And I told Bayley that we needed to head towards The Field. I just… felt like we needed to be here. Can’t quite explain why. We never can. So we started walking through here and then we heard you not so subtly talking to yourself. Then we stopped.”

“And stopping brought us to you. You’re not here alone. You’ve got us. And really, it’s not so bad. No bills, no hunger, no wars, no capitalism. We all just kind of… exist here. Peacefully. It’s kinda nice really.”

Sasha smiled. “And it’s not really overly cluttered with people. And when there is a high volume of people, most everyone is really nice! Some people are a tad grumpy; I guess not even Purgatory can make people not shitty. But there’s not much in the way of crimes or anything.”

“And since there’s no real economy, no one is more rich or poor than anyone else. We’re all just cool about it. Not that there’s a lot of goods and services or anything but. You know.” Bayley said with a grin.

Charlotte was having trouble holding onto one thought over another. What they described sounded ideal, almost like a utopia if ever there was one. But it couldn’t be a utopia. _How the fuck is the most perfect place in existence the one where I’m DEAD?_

“If I’m dead, how come I can feel things? Isn’t this supposed to be like a dream?”

“How many dead people have you known?”

“ _Sasha._ What she means to say is, everything people know about death is, well, it’s made up. Just like Santa Claus or the easter bunny or happiness.”

“We can feel emotions and stuff, but we don’t feel physical pain. No hunger or thirst either. The most physical we feel is right after we get here, then it starts to fade over time. So there are a lot of different things affecting how strongly you feel right now, especially your emotions. The entire reason you’re here is because you can’t pass, remember? Something is tethering you to the Mortal Plane. Perhaps a grieving wife?”

_Fuck. Becky._

“No, no, no, no. I can’t stay here. I’ve gotta find Becky. I can’t… I can’t do that to her! What if she starts drinking again? I can’t risk that.”

Charlotte jumped to her feet but felt too dizzy to stand; she was trying to process way too much too quickly. She fell back into the couch and held her face in her hands. All she could think to do was sob. Bayley wrapped her arms around Charlotte’s shoulders and she immediately collapsed into Bayley’s chest. Sasha hummed a tune, quietly at first but slowly ended up singing loud enough to overtake Charlotte’s violent sobs. There was something comforting about the two of them that she just couldn’t quite understand, but she wasn’t going to question it now. They sat in silence for what seemed like forever. _Then again, I guess it COULD be forever here, huh?_

“Do we know where Seth is right now?” Bayley mumbled over Charlotte’s head once she began to calm down.

“I assume at his little tin shack trying to unravel the mysteries of space and time.” Charlotte could almost hear her eye roll.

“What is it you have against his work?”

“Okay one, bold of you to call it ‘work’ when he’s just playing with his toys. Two, it’s all rumors, Bayley. No one has ever proved anything. And it just feels… weird. I can’t explain why. Like he’s breaking a rule.”

“No one has ever proved it because no one has ever actually tried to prove it. I mean, to be fair it’s… I don’t know. It’s off the cuff, he’s a little weird. The whole thing feels a little weird. But so what? I think he can really help us, help a lot of people. And isn’t that what we all want? To help?”

There was another long silence in the room. Charlotte’s sobs had all but disappeared, though she felt too safe and comfortable in Bayley’s embrace to move.

“How do we know if this will work?”

Sasha was so quiet, it was as if she was trying to whisper solely to Bayley, like it was a secret Charlotte wasn’t supposed to know.

“We don’t. Just like we didn’t know why we were headed here. But we’re here. And it may be the only option. We can’t just leave her like this.”

“Fine.” Sasha huffed and gently ran her fingers through the ends of Charlotte’s hair. “Char-Char, are you ready to trust a madman with your future?”

“He is not a madman! He’s a man who is looking for another way out, another option.”

Charlotte begrudgingly sat up from Bayley’s embrace, so she could get a better read on Sasha. 

“Do you really not trust this guy, Sasha?”

Sasha’s grumpy pout softened as she looked at Charlotte. “I… I do. It’s just hard to explain. There’s a part of me that is just so unsure about all of this. But… Bayley’s right. We want to help. It’s why we never left here. So… we’ll help. But I’m not gonna be nice to him.”

“She’s so full of it. She adores Seth and she knows it.” 

Bayley whispered it in Charlotte’s ear. Sasha shot her a look with pursed lips. Charlotte giggled; it was nice to have some sense of normal human interaction. If she could even call it that. Were they humans? 

“Am I a ghost?”

“No, Casper.”

“Well then what am I?”

“Dead. We’ve gone over this.”

“Bayley!” Charlotte whined. “Can you give me a helpful answer, unlike your girlfriend?”

“My answers were plenty helpful. You’re welcome.”

“We’re not really either. We’re spirits to anyone on the Mortal Plane, but we can still move about and act like mortals so we can’t just be that. But no one has ever proved we can’t get back to the Mortal Plane so it’s hard to actually say if we’re spirits there are not. And we don’t feel physical pains or anything so… honestly there’s not a great answer. We just kind of exist. Kind of.”

“See? We’re dead. Point, Sasha.”

“I am quickly learning to try to avoid your helpfulness.”

Sasha smiled. “You’re catching on. I’ll keep it real. B will water it down. You’ll get the same answer. Mine’s just quicker.”

“So where does this Seth live?”

“He lives a few miles away from The Layover.”

“Helpful. Where is that? How far?”

“His is the rusty shack that looks like someone took a sad soup can and made it big enough to live in.”

Bayley sighed. “It does not look like that. It’s maybe about a 20 minute walk from here. Are you ready?”

Charlotte nodded and wiped her face dry. Sasha was already at the door, waiting.

“For someone who hates Seth so much, you’re in an awfully big hurry.”

“I just want to get this over with so I don’t have to see him anymore. Nothing against you, Char-Char.”

“Mhm. Whatever you say, babe. I think you like Seth.”

Sasha guffawed and stomped outside, though it seemed a little too dramatic to be her real reaction. Bayley grinned and helped Charlotte to her feet. As they walked back outside, Charlotte noticed there were no locks on the doors at all.

“Hey Bayley? How come this neighborhood is here if no one lives here?”

Bayley shrugged. “I guess the construction guys got bored waiting to pass? Hard to say. Lots of stuff happens here that we don’t actually have an answer for. It kind of works being so close to The Field in case someone needs a house to have a breakdown in.”

“Is that… common?”

Sasha laughed from up ahead and spun around, walking backwards. “You’re the first one that we’ve found.”

Charlotte pulled a face. “Rude.”

“Then again, we’re not like, gods or anything. Lots of stuff could happen that we don’t know about.”

“You seem to know plenty.”

Again Bayley shrugged. “We’ve just been here for awhile. We notice things. I guess we’re just always in the right place at the right time. It’s like our talent. We’re like, Purgatory mothers who just know when a purgatory child needs help.”

“Gross. I said no kids!” 

Charlotte rubbed her eyes. The haze was already getting to her. At the very least, she wanted to get out of here in hopes of seeing again.

“Doesn’t this hazy shit bother you guys? Or is this something I’ll just get used to?”

Bayley cocked an eyebrow and Sasha looked over her shoulder.

“What are you talking about?”

“The air. It’s hazy. It makes my eyes kinda burn. Guess I’m not used to it yet.”

Sasha and Bayley exchanged a look with each other, as if they were having a silent conversation.

“Must be from the crying. Let’s just get to Seth’s.”

Sasha nodded once at Bayley before turning around and continuing to lead the pack. Charlotte had no reason to not trust them so she let it go. _Besides, what’s the worst that can happen? They’re lying to me and I’ll die?_

They walked silently for awhile. Charlotte was trying to chew on everything, but she didn’t even know where to start. If she was truly dead, then she wanted to see this Seth man. Though she was beginning to realize that she wasn’t sure HOW he was supposed to help. Either way, she was relieved that Bayley seemed hopeful, though worried at Sasha’s lack of trust for the man. One thing was certain though, she would do whatever she needed to do to get back to Becky.


	4. Guardians

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seth has a plan to get home, though Sasha isn't entirely convinced he knows what he's talking about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SotC:  
> Don't Find Another Love by Tegan and Sara
> 
> _Please don't find another love_   
>  _Please don't find another love when I'm away_

_“No. Absolutely not. No. I do not, and will not, agree.”_

_“Becky I’m sorry but… it’s been weeks. I don’t know if she’s coming back. I want her back too but...”_

_“So you’re just going to fucking give up on your daughter? She’s gonna pull through, Ric! I know she is! You just gotta give her more time. She’s fighting, I can feel it.”_

_Ric sighed. “One more week. She wouldn’t want to live like this, and you know it.”_

*********

“Casa de soup can.”

Sasha waved her arm towards the metal shack that stood alone on the block. It wasn’t big by any means, but there almost seemed to be a glowing aura around it. 

_Magical, even._

Charlotte didn’t want to say it, but Sasha was kind of right about it looking like a sad soup can. The edges of the roof drooped just enough to make it look like a frown in a clown-in-an-iron-lung sort of way. Charlotte had no idea how this weird place she was in could transition from a nice house to a weird metal shack so quickly.

As if Bayley could sense Charlotte’s traitorous thoughts, she side-eyed her while walking up to the door. Charlotte forced a smile and quickly looked away, though she swore she heard a deep chuckle come from Sasha. Three quick knocks followed by a short pause, then another three quick knocks. Charlotte heard nothing from within the shack, but Bayley nodded to Sasha as she pushed the, surprisingly heavy, door open. The inside was a lot brighter than Charlotte expected. There were loud bangs coming from the back of the shack, which seemed to have more square footage than the outside let on. The floor was dirt and there were parts and tools strewn all across everything. Charlotte could understand how Sasha was hesitant to come here. If this guy was as trustworthy as he was clean...

“Seth?”

“One second!”

There were more loud crashes, metal banging against metal and mumbled curse words. After a short moment, he emerged from a back room. His black hair was pulled into a near perfect bun and a thick beard covered his face. He -and his grin- were charming despite, the grease he was covered in.

“Hello girls! And… a new girl?”

“This is our new friend Charlotte.”

Seth shook Charlotte’s hand and nodded. “My pleasure.”

“Yeah, Weasel, it is. If I wanted the smell of stale nachos, I’d go visit the bar.”

Seth turned his focus to Sasha. “Ever the charmer, Sasha.”

Sasha scoffed and crossed her arms. Seth grinned and met eyes with Bayley for a long second before turning his gaze to Charlotte.

“Tell me why you’re here.” 

He was oddly serious, considering the jovial tone he possessed just seconds ago. Charlotte looked into his dark eyes for a long moment, deciding how much to tell him. He was intense but friendly. Welcoming but oddly shut off. There was a glimmer of hope that danced around him, though he was trying hard to suffocate it.

“I don’t know how I got here. But Bayley and Sasha think you can help me get home.”

Seth eyed her carefully. “Help? How?”

“I don’t know. They just said you might be able to.”

“But how?”

“I don’t KNOW!” Charlotte was getting frustrated with his playing coy. Certainly he didn’t get many visitors outside of Bayley and Sasha. 

_What is his DEAL? Maybe this is why Sasha doesn’t like him._

“All I know is these two found me when I was alone and scared and they said maybe you can help me stop being dead and I need to get to my fucking wife, okay?”

Something flashed in Seth’s eyes but it was gone before Charlotte could pinpoint the emotion. He looked at Bayley, then Sasha, and then back again before nodding once and taking a deep breath. 

“Your wife?”

Charlotte sighed, she was getting sick of talking about Becky; it hurt her heart too much. Every time Becky’s face flashed through her memories, she was reminded that she may never see her again.

“Yes. My wife. The love of my life. The mother of our fur-children, well, I mean adopted mother. I hate that I have to specify that she did not, in fact, birth a cat and a dog but it only takes one weird conversation to-”

Charlotte stopped rambling when she saw the corner of Seth’s mouth perk up.

“What?”

“It’s true love that makes you want to go home? And you want me to help?” There was a new shine behind his eyes. 

“Yes. I don’t want to be anywhere without Becky.”

Seth nodded. “Do you know exactly what you’re getting in to?”

“Well, no. Sasha and Bayley were too busy arguing about you to explain who you are.”

“Sounds about right.”

Sasha, her arms still folded across her chest, rolled her eyes.

“In our defense, you spent most of our time together crying into my chest.”

Charlotte’s face flushed. “Well, it’s not like it’s every day you get told you’re DEAD.”

“Yes well, it’s important to me that you understand what it is I’m trying to do here, Charlotte. All of my tests and research has been careful and thorough but there is no guarantee any of this is going to work.”

“Yeah, I’m aware. I got the spiel from the girls.”

“It could be dangerous.”

“What, am I gonna die?”

Sasha snickered from behind Charlotte. “Yeah Weasel. You gonna kill her?”

Seth rolled his eyes and turned towards the back of his shack. “Follow me.”

“I can’t tell you how long I’ve been here, mostly because I have no concept of time anymore. But I can tell you that those of us that don’t end up on The Layover have a chance at making it home.”

“So what is The Layover? How am I supposed to get home? Is this how zombies happen?”

“Zombies? Really Char-Char?”

“It’s a fair question Sasha, and no not really. See, it’s my theory that some of us here aren’t actually dead. Most of us are, sure. And of course why we’re here is entirely based on individual circumstance. No two deaths are exactly the same, regardless of situation. But I’ve done a lot of digging into the rumor is that it’s possible to go home-”

“Which is, just a rumor. Never been proved.”

“Right you are, my snarky purple-haired friend. But no one has ever made one of these either.”

Seth opened a door to an entirely different room. It was pitch black. Charlotte used the too-bright light from the main room to try to keep an eye on Seth as he walked away. A large generator kicked on from the far corner of the room as the lights flickered on. The room looked bigger than the entire shack looked from the outside. And it was completely empty.

“Uh, Seth, isn’t there supposed to be a… something here?” Bayley questioned.

“There is.”

He flipped another switch which brought a contraption down from the ceiling; the hum of the motors was almost deafening. It looked like someone took the hubcap of a tire and melted it into a vaguely helmet form. Only it looked like whoever wore the helmet would have to have a conehead in order for it to even kind of fit.

“Is that the helmet you’re gonna wear to keep you from losing the rest of your goddamn mind?”

“This is the Guardian Getter.”

“That is the worst name I have ever heard in my life.”

“What’s a Guardian?” Charlotte asked, ignoring Sasha.

“Here in Purgatory we don’t have gods or rulers or whatever. It’s never been explicitly proven, but there are tales of Guardians walking amongst us. They keep keep chaos from breaking out, keep people calm, help lost souls out…”

“So, they’re angels?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.”

“That sounds somehow more made up than getting people back home.” Sasha scoffed.

“And how do these Guardians help anyway?” Charlotte asked.

“My theory is that to get people back to the Mortal Plane, the individual in question needs to know HOW they got here.”

“Great because I have no idea how I got here. How am I supposed to figure that out?”

“Ah, see, I don’t know how I got here either. That’s why we need to find a Guardian. They have this sort of information stored, even if they don’t know it. They are omnipresent in the way that some gods are in religions, though they rarely realize who or what they are. They are not the creators of the world, rather the enforcers of justice and true good.” 

“Okay so they’re angels that don’t know they’re angels. What does the hubcap do?”

“This device sends a small pulse through the body of the Guardian until the memory is pushed up into the reaches of the mind they can access. It helps them remember.”

“So, you’re telling me that the way to get back to my wife is by giving an angel shock therapy?”

“But it’s not a shock! It’s a specifically tuned pulse to help us get the information we need. Besides, we can’t feel physical pain, remember? And if we can’t, there’s no way a Guardian can.”

“Jesus Seth I knew you were crazy but I didn’t realize you had lost your goddamn marbles. Why don’t you just accept the fact that you’re fucking dead? Instead of coming up with stupidass wild ideas you could be trying to pass on yourself. But no. Here you are, tucked away in your disgusting little soup can trying to tell me some broke ass tire part is going to help get anyone anywhere. As if somehow you know what no one else does, what no one else has for all of eternity. I am so sorry we wasted your time, Charlotte.”

Sasha spun on her heel and marched towards the door. Charlotte watched Seth’s face drop as he chewed on the inside of his lip. He pulled his ring finger into his grip and gently rubbed the knuckle. He looked ashamed and, oddly, heartbroken.

“But what about Finn?”

Bayley’s voice was small but Sasha stopped in her tracks, her hand reaching for the door. She didn’t turn around; Bayley bore her eyes into the back of Sasha’s head. 

“You can’t tell me you’ve forgotten why Seth is doing this in the first place. Why you promised to help him all that time ago. Told me how you couldn’t handle another person ‘without half of their soul, not when we can help’. Yes it’s unconventional but he’s _trying_ and all you’re doing is marching around being grumpy about helping someone you promised you would help. You have me here. Seth is here without part of his heart.”

Sasha’s arm stayed extended towards the door; she never budged an inch.

“Let her go, Bayley. He’s… He’s probably not even waiting anymore. It’s been so long, you know? A guy like Finn doesn’t need to mourn too long. I’m sure he’s found peace.”

Seth’s head was down, his finger still wrapped in his hands. 

“No.” Sasha shook her head slowly at first.

“No way.” 

Her head shake got more aggressive as she whipped around finally and stared a dagger through Seth. She closed the gap between them in what seemed like a blink of an eye. With her index finger and thumb, she jerked his head up to meet her eyes.

“There is not a cell in your body that believes that. Not a single one. He’s there and you know it, you hear me? Don’t you ever stop fighting for your man because he hasn’t stopped fighting for you.”

“What do you care? I’m just a crazy person who wastes people’s time, remember? You were literally about to walk out, so why don’t you?”

Sasha clenched her jaw. “Just because I’m afraid of the unknown, doesn’t mean I don’t believe in love. And Finn still loves you, just as you do him.”

“How do you know?” He squeaked, his eyes welling with tears.

“She’s right. I can feel it too. Right here.” Bayley pointed to the middle of her chest.

Charlotte had no idea what was going on but she felt compelled to give Seth a hug. He was clammy, much different from the cool-to-the-touch feel of Sasha and Bayley’s skin. 

_Must be from the tension in the room._

“So you’ll help?” Seth asked after a moment.

“I certainly don’t condone this but I can’t stand the idea of Bayley lecturing me about being more empathetic. Or, the idea of sleeping on the couch.”

“She loves the idea of true love guys, don’t let her fool you. It’s why she’s here with us. She wants to help and she’s a big softie.”

“So, Seth, what’s our plan?” Charlotte asked over Sasha’s scoff.

“Charlotte,” Seth started, standing up straight with a grin and not-so-discreetly wiping away some rouge tears. 

“First, we’re gonna find a Guardian to help us. And then we’re gonna go home.”


	5. The Layover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seth's plan to catch a Guardian includes a trip to the infamous Layover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the Chapter:  
> Anthem of the Angels by Breaking Benjamin
> 
>  
> 
> _White walls surround us,_  
>  _No light will touch your face again_  
>  _Rain taps the window_  
>  _As we sleep among the dead_  
>  _Days go on forever,_  
>  _But I have not left your side_  
>  _We can chase the dark together,_  
>  _If you go then so will I_

_He was going to sign the papers in two days. Not that Becky could stop him. He was her father, and in the eyes of a backwards government, he had far more authority than her own wife would have. He helped bring her in, and apparently he could take her out as well._

_The whiskey in Becky’s system was far more than she’d had in over a decade. Not that it mattered anymore. In 48 hours, Charlotte’s own father was going to sentence her to her very early grave. The doctors noted abnormal brain activity and cited the head trauma, though her lungs were up to 75% functioning at this point and most of her burns had healed. They assured Becky she wasn’t in pain, but it was highly unlikely she’d pull through. The brain activity was too weird. It was likely she was already dead, save for her heartbeat. Which, to their surprise, stayed strong as it ever had._

_‘Perhaps with enough time…’ they’d said while Ric signed the papers._

_Time. The one thing neither of them had anymore._

_The fight was over. She’d lost. They’d lost._

_She pulled up a picture of Charlotte on her phone. She always had the brightest smile, the most shiny of eyes. Becky kissed her phone and placed it gently in the passenger seat as she started her car. It didn’t matter anymore. Maybe none of it ever did._

******

“So according to my research, Guardians often don’t realize who they are. They never existed in the Mortal Plane, and therefore are given another way to fit in with the actual passers. Basically they don’t remember their death because they never had one.”

“Oh good. So we’ve lowered the search to anyone who doesn’t recall why or how they died, which is only about 70% of people here. Great job, Weasel.” 

“You said you were gonna help babe.”

“I never said I’d help. I merely decided to stay for my own humor.”

“They often exist in Purgatory for a substantial amount of time, and always tend to show up in situations when they’re needed, though they might not understand why.”

“Let me guess, they also look like humans!”

“Well, I mean they do.”

Sasha grunted and threw her hands over her face. “Why am I doing this?” She mumbled.

“Cause you love love. And you love me.” Bayley said while placing a kiss on her girlfriend’s head.

Seth paced the room while Bayley and Sasha playfully poked at each other. Charlotte watched them with equal parts pride and jealousy. They were a shining example of great people and a great couple; but she missed Becky so much it was beginning to almost physically hurt. In fact she was starting to feel a little light headed, but assumed it was from the rampant chaos. She drew a deep breath to steady herself, but still didn’t feel quite right.

“So Guardians don’t know they’re Guardians. How are we supposed to find them?”

“That’s the problem, I’m not sure. No one seems to know. No one has ever even knowingly talked to a Guardian.”

Seth was silent for a minute as he ran his hands over his beard.

“Do you think that maybe The Layover would be a good start? I mean, those people clearly need someone to help them. And if that’s a Guardian’s entire purpose… You don’t suppose they’d show up that way, do you?”

“Is anyone going to tell me what The Layover actually is? Because at this point I’m just going to assume it’s a Purgatory strip club.”

“Bayley remember that one time you got on a fire pole and then fell flat on your butt?”

“Dude! That was one time!”

“Poles are greased so heavy you’re only supposed to go down on them. But if you grease them too much you go down too fast, and those things are hard and you will absolutely bruise something. I don’t know how people do it, climbing all over them like that.”

Seth, Bayley, and Sasha looked amongst each other and then quietly back to Charlotte.

“So, fire poles are hard? And difficult to climb on?” Bayley asked with a grin.

“That’s what I said, yes.”

“I bet you didn’t have any problems climbing on Becky’s fire pole!”

Seth and Bayley erupted as Charlotte pursed her lips, trying and failing to hide her own grin.

“I’m almost more upset that you would assume I’m not a true top.”

“Honey, Weasel boy over here is a bigger top than you.”

“Hey!”

It felt nice to laugh, to genuinely feel positive emotions for the first time in who knows how long; to make jokes with people who understood what she was going through in more ways than one. It was the first thing that had felt real in quite some time. At least, the first _good_ thing. The first grain of hope. It was small, but it was something.

“Okay but I still don’t have an answer. What’s The Layover?”

“Remember how when we found you we asked you where you came from? And you said you came from The Field?” 

Charlotte nodded at Bayley to continue.

“Well, when someone dies, a lot of times they just end up at The Layover. It’s, just what it sounds like. It’s not permanent. There is a very, very short timeframe in which someone can find their way out of it and back to the Mortal Plane-”

“Whi-”

“Yes, Sasha, which has never been proven to be real. But the idea that there are separate places for people to go when they die means that maybe there could be hope. And, Seth is onto something I think. It makes a lot of sense for a Guardian to be hanging around The Layover, because those souls need to pass quickly.”

“So the problem would be, you know, finding one.”

“Well, we’re not going to find one sitting here. Might as well try Weasel’s plan. Besides, it’s been a hot minute since we played the ‘why are you here’ game through the window.”

Bayley nodded as they all headed for the door. Charlotte stumbled a bit as she placed her first foot forward, but was caught immediately by Seth.

“You okay?”

“Yeah just a little weak. Must have… been sitting too long. I’m okay. Thanks.”

She pretended not to notice the look of concern Sasha and Bayley exchanged. The Layover wasn’t far from Seth’s shack, a few blocks at the most. Like he somehow knew that he would need to be close when he chose his home. 

_If you can call it a home._

The silence of Purgatory began to get clustered by the dull hum of a large group of people all talking amongst themselves. 

There was a beige wall separating the road from The Layover itself. A large window ran across nearly the entire length of the wall, with a lone door on the far right side. As they got closer, Charlotte realized it looked similar to a train station. There was a single platform on the right hand side with a single door in the center of it. Except there was no actual door there- just an empty frame which funnelled Passers into The Layover. There were two bridges over a bank of crystal clear water which led to another platform. This one had two doorways, both on the farthest end of the platform. Charlotte could see the bottom of some steps near the window; she assumed they led in from the door by the window.

“Where do those doors go?”

“Who knows? Could be the true afterlife, could be towards the center of town.” Seth shrugged.

“Why the center of town? What’s there?”

“Lots of like, bars and stuff. No one drinks, it’s just a place to go hangout until you feel the need to go into the afterlife. Or, I guess, when you don’t have a choice to stay longer.” Bayley said.

“So this whole place is like some weird airport for dead people?”

“I think I just heard the light bulb switch on!”

Sasha pulled an imaginary chain above Charlotte’s head and made a clicking noise with her tongue. Charlotte rolled her eyes and pressed her fingers against the window. All those people coming in, one right after another, it was hard to watch. There were hundreds of thousands of people in the Mortal Plane grieving right now. She couldn’t stand the thought of Becky being one of them.

Charlotte’s knees buckled as he body grew weaker for another short moment. This time it was Sasha that was there to try to help her. She was a little late though as Charlotte crashed to the ground. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sasha didn’t try to hide the fear in her voice.

“Yeah. Yeah. Just, thought about Becky too much I guess.”

“Maybe we should take you to go rest and we’ll look for a Guardian.” Seth suggested.

“I don’t think we have that kind of time.”

Bayley’s voice was hushed but frantic. She eyed Charlotte carefully as she tried, and failed, to get to her feet without any help.

“Wh… why?”

“Charlotte, you’re time is coming close.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Bayley. Careful.”

“No. I’m not gonna do this anymore. We have to help her Sasha.”

“But we can’t! We’re… we’re not supposed to!”

“We’ve come this far! We’ve done this much already! Are you just gonna watch her fade with a clean conscience? Fuck it man, I can’t do this anymore. You do what you want but this is too much for me.”

“Bayley?”

Seth and Charlotte both stared at the girls. Bayley had been nothing but kind hearted and up beat since Charlotte met her. But now her fists were shaking at her sides as she stared intently at Sasha. Sasha swallowed hard, going over options in her mind. She closed her eyes and nodded. Bayley turned her focus to Seth.

“It’s us. You want us. As soon as Seth started going over things at his place, we knew. Maybe we knew a long time ago. But here we are. And godDAMMIT I am not going to let you fade away when we can help. I want both of you to go back to the Mortal Plane where you belong.”

“You…?” Seth couldn’t make his lips form the words he wanted to spit out.

Sasha nodded as she finally helped Charlotte to her feet. 

“Yes. Guardians.”

“We need to get back to my place right away! We need to save Charlotte!”

They started off towards Seth’s house but once again Charlotte anchored herself to where she was standing. Charlotte’s gaze was firmly locked towards the window. Still more people shuffled in, the never-ending conga line of death. She began shaking again, though she wasn’t sure if it was from the same weakness as before.

Then, her entire body went cold. She didn’t hear the scream that pierced the air; it was like someone hit the slow motion button. She felt the pressure of her lungs against her chest, and the cold ground as her knees buckled again again. Her tears were hot and her breath was impossible to catch. She felt weak and sick and beside herself. Her body felt like it was rejecting any will to live.

A vague echoing of three voices calling out Charlotte’s name were floating through her ears. She barely realized they had brought her back to her feet, until the window came back into full view.

Through the window she saw an oh-too-familiar silhouette; one that she had traced with her fingertips many a time. Orange hair that had two braids near one of her temples. And the maroon leather jacket that Charlotte once knew as her own.

Becky was there. At The Layover, shuffling along with the rest of _them_. 

And there was nothing Charlotte could do but cry.


	6. Weak of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte tries to come to terms with the fact that she felt Becky in her death. Was it really Becky, or just a hallucination?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SotC: Blue by A Perfect Circle  
>  _Close my eyes just to look at you_  
>  _Taken by this seamless vision_  
>  _I close my eyes_  
>  _Ignore the smoke (3x)_  
>  _Call an optimist, she's turning blue_  
>  _Such a lovely color for you_

There was no doubt in Charlotte’s mind, her heart and soul was in Purgatory with her. Her broken and defeated sobs couldn’t convey that to her three friends, though, as they discussed amongst themselves the best course of action while she hugged her knees close to her chest. Charlotte couldn’t hold onto anyone’s voice long enough to know who was saying what; she just felt broken and absent from reality. If you could call this reality.

“I could carry her?”

“I feel like she’d make herself deadweight. She really thinks Becky is here.”

“Who are we to say she isn’t?

“Bae, what should we do?”

There was more silence as Charlotte tried desperately to control her violent sobs. Her body shook and trembled with anger, with confusion, with fear. She couldn’t hold onto a single thought outside of screaming the word ‘no’ over and over in her head. She tried to curl herself into the tightest ball she could; maybe she could disappear that way and wake up in her bed next to Becky. Maybe if she held herself tighter she could make the pain go away.

“We go find Becky.”

“I’m sorry we’re gonna do what now?”

“Yes. We’re Guardians. We decide who needs help and when and how. And look at this poor thing. We need to reunite her with her wife. And we are NOT just going to let them pass. This is beyond that. Charlotte’s fought too hard. We owe her this.”

“Your bleeding heart is going to get us in trouble.”

“With who? The ghost police? God? Sappho? Bring it on.”

“Your girlfriend is so much more badass than you are.”

“Oh, shut up Weasel.”

Charlotte was sat against the wall, still holding her knees held tightly to her chest. Bayley crouched down and tried to look in Charlotte’s eyes but found she wasn’t focused in any realm she could reach. She was far off, presumably somewhere with her wife safe and sound. Bayley vowed to herself that Charlotte would be just that, no matter what.

“Charlotte. I need you to come back to me okay?”

Charlotte closed her eyes for a long second and only opened them back when she felt Bayley’s cool hands on her cheeks. For the first time since she got here, she actually felt dead. It was much easier to control no emotion than all of them at once.

“Listen to me Charlotte. We’re gonna go find Becky. But we need you to come with us. If we can find her, the force of your bond could give us more time to get you both back home. Can you do that for me? For you? For Becky?”

“Bec...ky?” Charlotte said weakly.

“So how are we supposed to find her?” Seth asked.

“We’re gonna have to go into the center of town. With any luck the pull of Charlotte’s soul being here will have made her hang out a bit longer.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Says the dude who wanted to electrocute Bayley and I.”

“It wasn’t a shock!” Seth pouted.

“Enough you two. Let’s get Charlotte to her feet again. She’ll come around once she’s processed everything.”

“Up and at ‘em Char-Char. Time to go find your wife.”

_Wife. Becky. Here. Wait, here? Becky is… near._

Something snapped back into place in Charlotte’s brain. Becky was here. With her. If Charlotte’s time was going to come up soon, if Bayley was actually right, then she had to fight harder than ever before.

Her knees were a little wobbly when she stood, though Seth held tightly around her waist. Sasha stood at her other side, too short to actually help her stay up-right. Charlotte finally lifted her head and swallowed hard before looking at Bayley. There was a look behind Bayley’s eyes that Charlotte hadn’t yet seen. Bayley seemed determined to find Becky; she almost seemed sure that they would. Her jaw was locked and her shoulders pinned back; Bayley was ready to face the odds.

“Ready?”

Charlotte gnawed on the inside of her cheek and nodded. She trusted Bayley, and she somehow felt Becky near. She had to at least try to find the strength to find her wife.

True to Purgatory form, the door to The Layover was unlocked. Seth and Charlotte were book ended by Bayley and Sasha. There was a cool breeze that came in over the water, a feeling that Charlotte had almost forgotten. There was no talking, just the rhythmic shuffling of thousands of feet as they headed to their respective doors. None of them seemed to question where they were or where they were going. It was like a zombie movie without any plot. Charlotte blinked and realized it was the first time she could see outside without feeling like her eyes were burning from smoke; it was a welcome feeling.

Bayley led them on the door to the right, the four of them falling in line with the rest of the poor souls. The corridor grew dark and damp, though oddly did not smell like mold as she expected. The footsteps changed pitch as the ground slowly turned to cobblestone. Minutes later, the bright light from the outside was reflecting into the corridor. It was the same bright blue sunny sky that Charlotte had gotten used to in the rest of Purgatory.

“No haze.” Charlotte mumbled.

“Haze?”

“Yeah. It’s hazy everywhere you know? I feel like I can see here.”

“Charlotte there's no-OOF.”

“Can it, Weasel.”

Seth rubbed his ribcage and huffed. Bayley finally turned around, focusing directly on Charlotte.

“We need to try to move quickly, as we don’t know how long Becky is supposed to be here. If we want any chance at all for any of this to work, we need to comb the area.”

“What if I just… call for her?”

“There are well over a million people in this weird little travel stop. Do you think yours will be the only Becky?”

“Sasha’s right, sadly. We need to actively look for her. Tell us what we’re looking for, Charlotte.”

“She was wearing my maroon leather jacket. Orange hair, two braids on the right side of her perfectly square face, the rest curled and down hugging her boulder shoulders. Amazing cheekbones. Gorgeous dark eyes, full of mischief. Jawline that could cut a diamond.”

“Well that was… kind of helpful at least.”

“Don’t ask me to describe my wife and not expect me to go into detail. You’re lucky I ended there.” 

Bayley spun around and surveyed the area for a long moment. She spun back around and poked her finger into the center of Charlotte’s chest.

“Excuse me?”

“That,” Bayley emphasised, poking again. “We need that.”

“You aren’t gonna like, do some Purgatory trick and literally rip my heart out are you because I’d rather Seth tried to electrocute me too.”

“IT WASN’T THAT KIND OF SHOCK!”

“No, hear me out. Sasha and I can always find each other if we get too far apart, right?”

“But you’re Guardians. I don’t think the same rules apply to me. I’m just… me.”

“You’re more important than you think you are. All people are. Maybe with the bond you and Becky have you can like… feel for her?” 

“Already crossed that bridge.”

Sasha groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “It might be easier than splitting up and potentially losing each other. I hate to say this but, let’s at least try it.”

“Okay so what am I supposed to do? Search for Becky in Google maps or something? ‘Hey Google, where’s my wife?’”

Bayley pursed her lips. “No, jerkass. Though that may work on the Mortal Plane. Close your eyes and… feel for her.”

“Just… feel for her? How helpful.”

Charlotte looked to Sasha, who definitely thought this was all crazy. But she heaved a sigh and gave her a shrug. Really, what did Charlotte have to lose? 

_We’re both already dead. Fuck it._

Charlotte drew a somewhat calming breath and closed her eyes. She focused on Becky and ‘felt’ for her. Minutes passed, though it felt like hours. She could feel multiple pair of eyes waiting for her breakthrough.

“Feel anything?” Seth asked.

“Yeah, awkward.”

“Try thinking more... intimate.” Bayley suggested.

“Excuse me?!” Charlotte’s face flushed.

“No I mean, think about a time where you felt truly connected to Becky. Doesn’t have to be in a sexual way at all. Really focus on Becky and your love. And not being here.”

“Yes, easy to do when there are a hundred thousand dead people shuffling about.”

Charlotte sat herself on the ground and crossed her legs, though frustrated. If they wanted her to meditate, she would. 

“Can you guys like, not look at me though? It’s weird.”

She poked one eye open. Everyone turned around, forming a wall around her as if anyone else in the area was paying any attention anyway. Closing her eyes fully, she first pictured Becky’s face. The way her eyes were always playful. The way her nose scrunched when she smiled. The way her smile would light up even the darkest of rooms. She was like Charlotte’s North Star of comfort.

She thought about the first time they hung out. Nervous college kids, unsure of what the other wanted. She thought about how she denied Becky liked her at all, even though they would sit at the raggedy picnic table outside their dorm until sunrise, and well past the start of classes. She thought about the time in the late fall when they ditched the rest of the holiday party to go for a walk in the brisk and rainy Halloween weather. About how Becky was sick at the time and Charlotte offered her jacket; and how when she gave it back it smelled so good she used it as a pillow for a week. 

She thought about the first time they had sex. Her roommate was gone for the weekend and Becky had come over to watch a new movie. The dorms were tiny and so the only places to sit were Charlotte desk chair and her bed. Becky hopped into bed and patted the little opening. Charlotte cozied in as Becky laid her head across her shoulder. Charlotte was mesmerized by the scent of her shampoo once again. She remembered waking up in the morning with the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen laying on top of her, and gently kissed her nose. Becky had grunted in protest, but cuddled closer. She remembered how her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest; this was the woman of her dreams come to life.

She thought about how they’d been talking about having kids. They were hesitant but excited and had just filed papers for adoption. They’d been turned down countless times until one of their closest friends offered to donate.

Charlotte’s eyes snapped open. It was as if a switch flipped on. Her chest was full and, if it could have been, her heart would have been dragging her to her feet. Without a word she pushed between Sasha and Bayley and made a beeline towards an old bar. It was congested with the dead, though they paid little mind to Charlotte shoving past them. The truly dead knew nothing more than the feeling of passing. Charlotte combed through the bar but found nothing but quiet murmurs of the people mindlessly sitting at tables.

Not to be deterred, she pushed her way back outside. She closed her eyes again and focused on her heartbeat. On the heartbeat of their child. Becky was close. She knew it.

“Charlotte?”

“Quiet, I’m feeling.”

“No, Charlotte-”

“Just give me a minute I know she’s here.”

“Char-Char can you just-”

“Please give me ten seconds. I can feel her. She’s really close.”

Charlotte felt hands cup her face, though they were far warmer than Bayley’s or Sasha’s. Weirded out by Seth being so close, she snapped her eyes open with a growl.

“Seth can you plea-”

“I don’t know who Seth is, but I’ll fight him if he’s tried to take your heart.”

Charlotte scooped Becky off of her feet and held her as tightly as possible.

“Is it really you?” Charlotte mumbled into a sea of orange hair.

“I’m here love. I’m right here.”

Charlotte felt like she could breathe for the first time all day. Tears poured down her face as she gripped her wife in a bear hug. Maybe she could do this; maybe they could get home.


	7. Clarity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bayley, and Sasha may have figured out how to get the girls, and perhaps Seth, home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the Chapter:  
> Daylight Dancer by Lacuna Coil
> 
> _Trying to move_   
>  _Down in this grave_   
>  _Trying to believe in every faith_   
>  _As another bridge to clarity_   
>  _Want to stay another way (4x)_   
>  _Take another chance_   
>  _To find a distant sanity_   
>  _And turn your pain in truth_

“Give me a reason to believe you’re real.”

“One time we fucked so hard you cracked your head on the wall. You insisted it was only a little bit of blood. You only needed, like, five stitches.”

Charlotte buried her face farther into the crook of Becky’s neck, in hopes her flushed face would blend in with her wife’s hair.

“Th- that never happened.”

Becky grazed her fingertips across the top of Charlotte’s head; the scar from the stitches was still ever-so-slightly raised.

“Sure babe. Whatever you say.”

“Yeah, hey, hate to ruin the honeymoon but uh, we need to move.” Seth said. “As far as I know, no one has ever left The Layover like this so we have no idea what, if any, repercussions we could be facing.”

“Unfortunately the Weasel is right. We might have bought ourselves some time, but the clock is still ticking. We need to figure out how to get you two back,” Sasha looked at Seth, “How to get you all back.”

Seth smiled to himself as Bayley gently headbutted her girlfriend. “I knew you’d come around.”

“Yeah yeah, let’s get back to the can and figure out our next move. We gotta figure out how to get them home.”

“Home?” Becky asked, curious and confused.

“We’re gonna get home baby. Promise.”

“Great. Where are we now?”

“If I told you, I’m not sure you’d believe me.”

“Try me.”

“Uh… we’re in Purgatory. We’re dead.”

Becky glanced around the area and shrugged. “Yeah, I mean, I guess that makes sense. Kinda.”

“You are such an asshole, Rebecca.”

“No seriously! I don’t know how else to explain all those weird almost-zombies back there. I haven’t seen apathy like that since the last time I went to the DMV. It was just such a weird, stagnant feeling. And on top of that, god knows you can’t make friends without me so.”

Becky waved her hand in the direction of Sasha, Bayley, and Seth.

“Wow.”

“I say it with love, Charlie! You make plenty of friends… at work. When people have to spend time with you. Like, get paid to. It’s fine! You’re my awkward girl!”

“Thanks Becks. You’re a gem.”

“I know. So, uh, how are we supposed to get home from… being dead? I guess? Isn’t that how zombies happen?”

Charlotte shot a smug look at Sasha. “See? Not a dumb question after all.”

Bayley butted in front of an angry-pouting Sasha. “No, see, it’s possible you’re not actually dead. Some people come here because they’re still tethered to the Mortal Plane, to your human Earth. Which is why we thought Charlotte was here; we thought you were grieving her death.”

_Death._

Even after all this time running around with angels in Purgatory, the heaviness of the statement didn’t go away. Somewhere in the ether, Charlotte’s body was as close to lifeless as it could get. She glanced at Becky out of the corner of her eye; her wife chewing on the inside of her cheek. Just as quickly as Charlotte’s heart was healed by being reunited with Becky, realizing Becky was dead left her riddled with grief; even moreso when she considered the fact that Becky was dead because of her.

They were _dead_. Probably. The love of her life, her sun on a cloudy day, was dead. It was too much to handle. And they may never get home. She immediately started to panic, cursing the idea that she still had to deal with such bullshit emotions.

 _But would it be so bad?_ Charlotte mused to herself. 

They had vowed ‘til death do us part’ but maybe they were the lucky two that could withstand even that.

“How do we know for sure that we’re like, actually dead? Or I guess, when we’re actually dead?”

Bayley and Sasha exchanged a glance then shrugged. They had never bothered to get close enough to anyone like this before. Generally they helped people shuffle through The Layover and that was that. Until Seth came along, at least.

“So is Seth dead?”

Seth shrugged. “I hope not. I’d really like to get back to my boyfriend.”

“Do you know how you got here?” 

Seth scoffed and shrugged his shoulders.

“Have you ever been physically thrown out of a bar or club or anything? Like, cartoon-style where the big guy has you by your belt and shirt? Well, I don’t know how I got here, but I’m jealous of how Charlotte woke up so peacefully under that tree. I just remember coming to mid-flight, I suppose, and crashing onto the pavement outside of this little apartment.”

Seth waved his hand towards his place, which was only a block or so away at this point. Their footsteps echoed on the pavement in the skinny road as they all lost themselves in their own thoughts.

“If I was the one keeping Charlotte here, and I’m here now… how is she still here? Shouldn’t she have moved on, or whatever it is that happens?”

“Well, Charlotte is maybe not dead then. At least not really. Her body, her heart, could still be alive.” Bayley offered.

“So then would she be the reason that I’m here? Or am I dead-dead? Do we cancel each other out somehow?”

Seth popped open the door of his shack as another silence fell over the five of them. It was hard to fight what they didn’t truly understand.

Seth rubbed his beard while concentrating on his thoughts. Charlotte gently pulled Becky’s hand to her lips and kissed it; she needed some kind of familiarity with all the uncertainty floating around.

“ _Heart_... Her heart is still alive...” Seth muttered as he ran his fingers through his dark hair. He whipped around quickly and came face to face with Becky.

“Becky, how did you die?” He asked urgently.

“I don’t- I don’t know. I remember… glass? It was raining… maybe? I think?”

“And Charlotte? How did she die?”

“She never came home from work. I don’t remember exactly what happened but something about a boy in a house.”

Seth chewed on his lip and paced the room. Sasha and Bayley stood near the door, hand-in-hand, and quietly watched the scene unfold before them; a little too quietly. Charlotte put her hand in her pocket and fingered the acorn she had kept from The Field. She didn’t care what Seth said, it was a pretty rude awakening to be hit on the head and drenched in sweat. 

Then, something clicked. 

_The acorn. Work. The fire._

“Guys… guys… the acorn! I remember! The acorn!”

“I’m sorry, what?” Sasha cocked an eyebrow.

“The little boy, the house the fire! I slipped on something and the door frame collapsed around me. I… must not have gotten out. Oh god, what if that boy didn’t make it.”

Almost immediately, Bayley shook Charlotte’s shoulders gently. “Char, come back to me. Look at me. I need you to hold on to everything you’re feeling right now and lock it away.”

“But don’t I want to remember? Isn’t that how I go home?”

“No, it’s not-”

“Bayley. Careful. We’ve already interfered too much.”

“No. We made a promise and they’ve come this far on their own, we can help them.”

“You’re playing favorites! We’re not supposed to play favorites! We’re not supposed to interfere! We’ve never done this for anyone before!”

Bayley grinned while she looked back at the trio, then to Sasha. “Maybe no one else has ever deserved it before. Besides, whose rules are we breaking anyway? Are we going to be punished for doing the right thing? For being Guardians and helping people? What’s gonna happen? We’re gonna die?”

Sasha and Bayley stared at each other for a long moment before Sasha flipped her gaze to Seth, Becky, and Charlotte.

“This is really what you want to do?”

“No, Sasha. It’s what I need to do.”

Sasha rolled onto her tip toes and gave Bayley a kiss. “That was cheesy and stupid but I love you. So let’s go before I change my damn mind.”

“Go where? What do you know?”

“Guys, it’s not enough to know how you died. You have to recreate the scene.”

“So you’re telling me I need to get smushed in a burning building?”

“And you made fun of me for giving you guys a shock. Wow.”

“So you WERE trying to electrocute us!”

Seth rolled his eyes and paced around the room. Even still, he was sure there was something missing.

“So if you’ve helped us and you’re not supposed to that means we’ve cheated to get this far, right?”

Sasha shot Bayley a look though she just smiled and shrugged her shoulders innocently. Seth continued.

“What if we just… recreate the emotions somehow? Instead of shoving Charlotte in a building, what if we just… find a way to make her feel what she was feeling at the time?”

“Seth might be onto something. But how would be pull that off?”

“And what about me? Am I going to just stay here?”

“Yeah I really don’t want to leave without Becky.”

“I have another theory on that. Becky, you don’t remember how you died right? Given the proximity of Charlotte’s arrival here and yours, I’d be willing to bet that your death had something to do with your loss of Charlotte. With the connection you two have, it makes me think that the grief got to you for one reason or another. Or perhaps just some sort of divine intervention. Either way, if that’s correct, then watching Charlotte recreate her death should take you back as well!”

“And if that doesn’t work?”

“Then we come back and regroup. What’s the worst that can happen? You’ll die?”

“But what about you?”

Seth smiled at Charlotte, though it was forced. “I’ve been here this long. Another day won’t kill me. Get it? Kill me? Man I am full of that good shit right now”

“B we need to go now or we’re actually gonna find out what happens when a soul gets murdered cause this white boy is on my last damn nerve.”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go to The Field.”

“Now? Like, right now? At this moment?”

“Problem Char-Char?”

“Well, I just… I feel like I don’t get to say goodbye.”

Bayley threw an arm around Charlotte’s shoulder and squeezed her. “We still have like a 2 hour walk to get there. Besides, we’re always gonna be with you. Though you might just remember us as a crazy fever dream. We get that a lot.”

“I thought Sasha said you’d never done this before.”

“Oh, we haven’t. I was just trying to make you feel better. Did it work?”

“And I thought she was the blunt one.”

“She is. But she’s not the stubborn one. Now come on. Mama Bayley is gonna make sure all her children get home.”


End file.
